Notices by Joyce Lionarons (joyce@hcommons.social)

#WritersCoffeeClub 27. What unpaid marketing sites have you found helpful?

Unpaid marketing sites? What unpaid marketing sites? I don't know what they are.

Happy Birthday Tom Baker! 91 years old today.
#DoctorWho

As a retired English professor and old fart, I cringe at the typos and grammatical errors I constantly see around me, in published books, in posts, in so-called "professional" media. How, I ask myself, can people not see these things?

Occasionally I have to remind myself that in my early 20s, I printed (mimeographed!) 2,500 leaflets reading "US out of Southeast Asa Now!"

Wherever David Lynch might be, I hope he's having a damn fine cup of coffee. May he rest in peace.

@alduplat

Thank you. That's reassuring.

Help. I drove my car to the store, shopped, and when I came out and turned the car on, a bunch of warning lights came up. Power steering problem. Vehicle Stability Problem. Emissions system problem. Brake system problem. Tire monitor problem.

The car works fine. I thought I would try to get it to a gas station a few blocks away, so I drove it, and of course the gas station was closed because it's Sunday. I drove the car another 10 miles. Everything worked fine.

Is this just a computer glitch? Maybe because it's cold? (It didn't go away when the car warmed up.) Is there a way to reset the computer on a 2019 Honda Fit/Jazz?

#HondaFit #CarProblems

A few of my friends from Facebook are sticking their toes into Mastodon now: guys, this is for you.

People are wary of following blank profiles. You will want to put up an avatar photo, whether a photo of you or not, and something to introduce yourself. You can pin an introduction post to the top of your feed. You can add info about yourself in your profile.

Search hashtags to find your peeps, others who are interested in the same things you are. Post and use hashtags so people can find you. Because there's no algorithm to push posts into your feed, you have to do a bit of work yourself. It's worth it.
@Imhjh
@GinaO

“Socrates said, “The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.” He wasn’t talking about grammar. To misuse language is to use it the way politicians and advertisers do, for profit, without taking responsibility for what the words mean. Language used as a means to get power or make money goes wrong: it lies. Language used as an end in itself, to sing a poem or tell a story, goes right, goes towards the truth. A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.”
~ Ursula K. Le Guin

#Language #Writing

Well, the snow has begun. We're not supposed to get much today, but then we're going to have more on Sunday night and Monday morning. I'm glad I don't need to go anywhere until Tuesday.
#Today

Good morning!

Today I tried out the chemical toe-warmers I bought to wear on cold early-morning walks. They work almost too well: at 29F (-1.6C), my toes were just a little too warm with them while I walked. If I had to stand out in the cold without moving, though, I would have been thrilled to have them!

Today will be the first day of proofreading and formatting Whitsun Market, my new Matthew Cordwainer Medieval Mystery. This is my least-favorite part of the process, mostly because it requires a tight focus on something I've grown tired of after months of working on it. I end up needing to take a break every few minutes.

I hope you can do something you truly enjoy #today.

#WritersCoffeeClub 16. What would be the best writing-related present someone could give you?

A laptop. I do all my writing at home on my desktop with the full-size keyboard and the huge monitor, but sometimes it would be nice to go away and write in a coffee shop or a library. I keep looking at laptops and almost buying one, then deciding I wouldn't use it enough to justify the cost. But if someone gave it to me....

Not quite as writing-related, but I'd write much better if someone gave me a few hours each day without pain.

I give money to worthy causes every month. But anyone who DMs me and asks for money will be blocked.

Good morning!

Today I am 72. Somehow I never thought I'd live this long, or maybe I just never thought I'd get old. But here I am, and I'm glad of it.

On my walk this morning I saw a squirrel standing on the ground with its back to a tree. Suddenly it leapt into the air, did a back flip, and landed on the side of the tree trunk looking down at the ground.

I think it was just showing off.

Have a good one, friends.
#Today

#WordWeavers Nov 11
What emotions did your character experience in the last scene you wrote?

Frustration, sadness, shame, humiliation. Cordwainer is certain that he has failed utterly and there is nothing he can do to succeed in discovering who the killer is. And he knows he must hand his investigation over to someone who can succeed where he has failed.

#WritersCoffeeClub Nov 11 - Do you agree with Samuel Johnson, who said, "What is written without effort is generally read without pleasure"?

As regards generative AI, absolutely.

Sitting with my foot up. I spent most of the morning on the phone trying to find a podiatrist that I could get an appointment with. Nothing major, but very painful: nasty-looking ingrown toenail that I think is infected. No walking for me until this is seen to. Luckily, there's a doc with a cancellation tomorrow morning at 8:45.
#Today

Good morning. Or morning, anyway.

I've vacillated between sorrow and rage ever since I got up and heard the news. Going out and walking helped. Nature is still beautiful.

Be kind to yourselves today and going forward. Be kind to others. We need to reach out to each other, to our friends, to rely on our friendships and our kindness to carry us through what lies ahead.

#Today

This is circulating, I think it will need to last longer than Wednesday:

Friendly reminder that from now until Wednesday, we are living in the metaphorical equivalent of an airport lounge. Calories don't count. Money doesn't matter. No one will judge you for having a beer at 10am.

Do you need something to take your mind off the #USElection? Why not read a mystery novel set in the Middle Ages? I have two series: the Matthew Cordwainer medieval mysteries and the Gavin Rownt medieval mysteries. Guaranteed to keep you distracted!
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=joyce+lionarons&crid=2J8NHFKHUTG0S&sprefix=joyce+lio%2Caps%2C107&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_9
#FediBookFair #Medieval #Mystery #books

Good morning!

Every day I get up and tell myself I'm too tired to walk, I hurt too much, I'll stay home today. And pretty much every morning I go on out and walk. I'm always happy I did, especially when the world outside is as beautiful as it was today.

So now it's another day of writing and chores and reading. Life is good.
#Today